Massachusetts Man Convicted on Child Pornography Charges

WASHINGTON, July 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Johnny Pires, 24, of
Middleboro, Mass., was convicted today by a federal jury in Boston of
attempting to receive child pornography and possessing child pornography,
announced Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer
and Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Michael K. Loucks.

Pires was indicted on two counts of attempting to receive child pornography
and one count of possessing child pornography. Following a four-day trial
before U.S. District Judge Rya W. Zobel, a jury today convicted Pires of the
second count of attempting to receive child pornography, and of possessing
child pornography.

According to evidence presented during the trial, the case arose from an FBI
undercover operation that targeted individuals using file sharing programs to
trade child pornography. Testimony from an undercover agent established that
Pires was using Limewire, a file share program that allows users to exchange
image and video files for free, to share images of child pornography. The
agent testified that during his investigation, he downloaded images depicting
children engaged in sexually explicit conduct from Pires and was able to
access Pires' shared folder. During the review of Pires' shared folder, the
agent discovered numerous images of child pornography depicting pre-pubescent
children engaged in various sexual acts. Based on this information, a search
warrant was executed at Pires' residence, and Pires admitted to accessing
child pornography through file share programs and downloading images of the
sexual abuse of children. A forensic examiner testified that a hard drive
seized from Pires' residence revealed numerous images of child pornography,
including those downloaded from Limewire.

At sentencing, Pires faces a minimum of five years in prison and up to 20
years. He will also face a lifetime term of supervised release following his
prison sentence. Sentencing is scheduled for October 22, 2009.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide
initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and
abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S.
Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and
Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and
local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who
exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit
www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case is being prosecuted jointly by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Kanwit
for the District of Massachusetts and Trial Attorney LisaMarie Freitas of the
Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section. The case was
investigated by the FBI.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Justice, +1-202-514-2008, TDD: +1-202-514-1888